New courses in Writing and Humanistic Studieshttp://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Writing-and-Humanistic-Studies/index.htm2009-10-29MIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.eduen-USContent within individual OCW courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. MIT OpenCourseWare materials are licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further information see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htmThe issue of race and racial identity have preoccupied many writers throughout the history of the U.S. In this subject, students read Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Louise Erdrich, William Faulkner, Maxine Hong Kingston, Sandra Cisneros, and Judson Mitcham, among others, as we consider the story of race in its peculiarly American dimensions. The reading, along with the writing of members of the class, is the focus of class discussions. Oral presentations on subjects of individual interest are also part of the class activities. Students explore race and ethnicity in personal essays, pieces of cultural criticism or analysis, or (with permission of instructor) fiction. All written work is read and responded to in class workshops and subsequently revised.http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Writing-and-Humanistic-Studies/21W-742JSpring-2007/CourseHome/index.htmFaery, Rebecca Blevins2009-06-25T10:59:10-04:0021W.742JWGS.575JSP.575Jen-USSpecial ProgramsWritingmestizomulatomixed heritagemulticulturalheritageselfidentityethnicityintegrationassimilationracemixed ancestryhybrid populationsmultiple descentmultiracialitymixed-racemulti-racemultiracialwritingraceWriting and Humanistic StudiesWomen's and Gender StudiesMIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.eduContent within individual OCW courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. MIT OpenCourseWare materials are licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further information see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htmThis course is an introduction to writing prose for a public audience—specifically, prose that is both critical and personal, that features your ideas, your perspective, and your voice to engage readers. The focus of our reading and your writing will be American popular culture, broadly defined. That is, you will write essays that critically engage elements and aspects of contemporary American popular culture and that do so via a vivid personal voice and presence. In the coming weeks we will read a number of pieces that address current issues in popular culture. These readings will address a great many subjects from the contemporary world to launch and elaborate an argument or position or refined observation. And you yourselves will write a great deal, attending always to the ways your purpose in writing and your intended audience shape what and how you write. The end result of our collaborative work will be a new edition, the seventh, of Culture Shock!, an online magazine of writings on American popular culture, which we will post on the web for the worldwide reading public to enjoy. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Writing-and-Humanistic-Studies/21W-730-5Fall-2008/CourseHome/index.htmFaery, Blevins Rebecca 2009-05-07T02:18:34-04:0021W.730-5en-USWriting and Humanistic StudiesPhysical AnthropologyMass Communication/Media StudiescurrentassimilatingconfusionuncertaintydisorientationsurprisefeelingsanxietyReverse Culture ShockAdjustment PhaseNegotiation PhaseHoneymoon Phaseworkshopwritinglanguage and representationmedia saturationrobotics and cyborg culturesthe romance of technologyissues of race and genderthe ethics of biotechnologiessexual and reproductive politicseconomic imperialismurban and environmental crisesculture shockculturecontemporary issuescontemporaryMIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.eduContent within individual OCW courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. MIT OpenCourseWare materials are licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further information see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htmFor students with experience in writing nonfictional prose. Advanced study of rhetorical strategies and techniques of prose style. Considerable writing and revision required. In addtion to analyzing the work of class members, students read and discuss the work of distinguished essayists chosen to represent a range of prose styles, subjects, and biographical patterns.http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Writing-and-Humanistic-Studies/21W-745Spring-2008/CourseHome/index.htmFaery, Rebecca Blevins2009-05-07T02:17:27-04:0021W.745WGS.576SP.576en-USSpecial ProgramsComparative Literaturecooperatecompeteintersectdeterminants of identityincantatorylyricalpersuasiveinvestigativeexploratoryexpositoryidentitysexualitynationalityclassracegenderidentitiesprosenonfictionessayswritingadvanced studentsWorkshopWriting and Humanistic StudiesWomen's and Gender StudiesMIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.eduContent within individual OCW courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. MIT OpenCourseWare materials are licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further information see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htm"What people do with food is an act that reveals how they construe the world." Marcella Hazan, The Classic Italian Cookbook If you are what you eat, what are you? Food is at once the stuff of life and a potent symbol; it binds us to the earth, to our families, and to our cultures. In this class, we explore many of the fascinating issues that surround food as both material fact and personal and cultural symbol. We read essays by Toni Morrison, Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, and others on such topics as family meals, eating as an "agricultural act" (Berry), slow food, and food's ability to awaken us to "our own powers of enjoyment" (M.F.K. Fisher). We will also read Pollan's most recent book, In Defense of Food, and discuss the issues it raises as well as its rhetorical strategies. Assigned essays will grow out of memories and the texts we read, and may include personal narrative as well as essays that depend on research. Revision of essays and workshop review of writing in progress are an important part of the class. Each student will make one oral presentation in this class. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Writing-and-Humanistic-Studies/21W-730-4Fall-2008/CourseHome/index.htmBoiko, Karen 2009-05-07T02:17:23-04:0021W.730-4en-USWriting and Humanistic StudiesPlant Sciences, GeneralAnimal Nutritionfishingranchingfarminghunting and gatheringhuman culturesfungus or fermented products like alcoholanimalsplantswaterproteinsfatscarbohydratescuisinenutritionismunhappy mealsnutrientsdietlipid hypothesisgood calorieshungerfoodMIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.eduContent within individual OCW courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. MIT OpenCourseWare materials are licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further information see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htmIn this course we will read essays, novels, memoirs, and graphic texts, and view documentary and experimental films and videos which explore race from the standpoint of the multiracial. Examining the varied work of multiracial authors and filmmakers such as Danzy Senna, Ruth Ozeki, Kip Fulbeck, James McBride and others, we will focus not on how multiracial people are seen or imagined by the dominant culture, but instead on how they represent themselves. How do these authors approach issues of family, community, nation, language and history? What can their work tell us about the complex interconnections between race, gender, class, sexuality, and citizenship? Is there a relationship between their experiences of multiraciality and a willingness to experiment with form and genre? In addressing these and other questions, we will endeavor to think and write more critically and creatively about race as a social category and a lived experience. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Writing-and-Humanistic-Studies/21W-742JFall-2008/CourseHome/index.htmRagusa, Kym2009-05-26T05:26:25-04:0021W.742JWGS.575JSP.575Jen-USSpecial ProgramsWritingHumanities/Humanistic Studiescultural studiesfamilysterotyperacismdiasporaimmigrationoppressionmestizomulatomixed heritagemulticulturalheritageselfidentityethnicityintegrationassimilationracemixed ancestryhybrid populationsmultiple descentmultiracialitymixed-racemulti-racemultiracialWriting and Humanistic StudiesWomen's and Gender StudiesMIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.eduContent within individual OCW courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. MIT OpenCourseWare materials are licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further information see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htmDrawing in part from their own interests and ideas, students write about science within a broad cultural context. Students employ a broad repertoire of literary tools, such as narrative, scene-setting, and attention to larger issues of structure. Students study the work of other science writers, but subject's focus is less critical and analytical than synthetical -- on creating works of substance, grace, and flow that have science and technology as their subjects.http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Writing-and-Humanistic-Studies/21W-777Spring-2009/CourseHome/index.htmBoiko, Karen2009-10-06T08:15:41-04:0021W.777en-USWriting and Humanistic StudiesPublic Policy AnalysisScience, Technology and Societystandards and standardized testingeducation reformdesign and experimentationeducational technologymachinerealitynatural historymachinediscoverlifeDarwinvirtualnatural realityscientificmattermindcultural contextculturemedicinehealthecologynature writingnaturejournalismdebatepolicypublic understanding of sciencescience literaturepopular sciencereflectionbiographymemoirscience technology and societytechnology and societyscience writingcreative non-fictiontechnologyMIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.eduContent within individual OCW courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. MIT OpenCourseWare materials are licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further information see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htmIn these times of economic and environmental uncertainty, you may wonder how you can make a difference in the complex issues affecting your world. Knowledge truly is power, and OCW puts MIT’s world-class knowledge in the hands of individuals and organizations around the world seeking solutions to our most difficult challenges. By supporting OCW, you support a world of change. Please donate today and help keep OCW going and growing.http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/donate/invest/index.htm?utm_source=RSSMIT OpenCourseWare2009-10-20T11:59:59-04:00en-USMIT OpenCourseWare http://ocw.mit.eduContent within individual OCW courses is (c) by the individual authors unless otherwise noted. MIT OpenCourseWare materials are licensed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under a Creative Commons License (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike). For further information see http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/terms/terms/index.htm